Last evening (25/01/06) saw an important step in the Corrib Gas dispute. The day was set aside for an executive team from the oil company Shell to meet with various groups involved in the controversial project. All meetings were behind closed doors and by invitation only, as a group of concerned locals found out when attempting to meet with the team in Belmullet.

It became known that a further meeting was to take place in the community centre in Greannaí, a short distance from Rossport, to discuss with locals the problems to date. An impromptu group of people, residents directly affected by the proposed refinery and associated pipeline, converged on the venue to take part in the event.

On arrival they were informed this was yet another private meeting, and were refused entry. This reflected an earlier statement from Shell that the team were seeking to meet with non-opposing landowners only. Clearly an unacceptable situation, the people asserted their right to be involved in any debate on something which affected their community so seriously, and in what was supposed to be their own community centre! The Gardaí present (as part of the security laid on for Shell) wisely used their discretion and allowed access to the gathering group.

Chomsky, Southside Prats, Primetime And The Irish Times.

Sometime recently, at least in my perception, it has apparently become unacceptable to criticize something without having an fully explored alternative, and even then your alternative must exist within the exact same framework as the object of criticsm, and perferably be as close to it so as to make no difference.

What am I talking about you may ask? Well two recent miniscule media related events have stuck in my mind, perhaps for no other reason than my cantankerous grumpy nature fixating upon them, but nonetheless I feel it’s a mildly important issue which while it may be nothing new, certainly bears a hearing.

The first issue to get my goat was one of the posters which formed part of the recent idiotic advertising campaign by the Irish Times. You may have seen the campaign’s scrawlings around Dublin festooning our walls with its inane message of “We look at life, you live it”, which is funny given that the last time I read the Times it seemed more apparent that they were looking up their own arses rather than at my life. Well one such poster caught my eye one morning on my way to work, It protrays activism as seen through the eyes of the media with a poster being held high saying “Replace capitalism with something nicer” followed below by the Irish Times witty reply “Any suggestions?”. Now I must admit I chuckled momentarily before getting pissed off at yet another portrayal of activists as moaners with no practical solution and therefore worthy of derision.

From the newswire: The following represents a report on a public meeting held in Dublin 13th/14th January.

The first public workshop of the People before Profit Alliance / Davitt League Alliance was held in Cassidy’s Hotel (on the evening of Friday 13th January) and the Teachers Club (Saturday 14th). Chairing the Friday night session, Dr Michael Punch of TCD announced the aim of the group — which is to provide support through collaboration for individual grassroots movements and to increase political space for the views of community activists.

• Related links compiled by IMC Ireland:
• Socialist Worker article on PBP
• Socialist Democracy "So Good they did it Twice!"
• Indymedia.ie report on St. Michaels
• Indymedia.ie report on launch of Tenants First
• Indymedia.ie report on "The Sale of the Century"
• Indymedia.ie "Another Left Alliance Call"

From the newswire: To Ireland, from People of Peace and Justice, with love and peace: a message of peace from friends in St. Augustine, Florida!

We are a coalition of concerned citizens in St. Augustine, FL., who feel called to speak out on issues of justice and peace. We believe that the American people possess all the resources necessary to achieve peace, anywhere, through diplomacy. We believe that the U.S. has a moral obligation to seek peace for all who share this world. We invite all to join us in calling for a just and peaceful resolution to the Iraq war and to all conflicts. Now is the time to take personal responsibility for our individual and collective actions that jeopardize the safety and health of humankind. War is not the answer.

This is the first part of three interlinked articles on the potential political role of net based alternative media

The first part looks at American autonomist Marxist Harry Cleaver’s account of how international solidarity networks were built up around the Chiapas revolt in 1994, ‘The Zapatistas and the Electronic Fabric of Struggle’ and at the states’ response to on-line social movement organising, in particular at state actions against the Indymedia network.

The second article, An Historical Overview of Media and Class Struggle argues that the full potential of the Internet for political mobilisation has yet to be realised, as societies where Internet usage is currently widespread are pretty quiescent, with relatively little in the way of social protest and class struggle by comparison with say the 1960s and 70s. This argument is made by an historical overview of the role of the media and alternative media in various instances of protest and struggle.

Finally,The Internet, Communication and Horizontal Organisation looks at the role of the internet in communications, and argues that it can facilitate horizontal as opposed to hierarchal forms of social movement organising.